White Christmas
by alastingimpression
Summary: Lucy lives life as a sad being. And she never thought her life could get worse.. and then it does. [Short Story] [Please Read Author's Notes]


Note : I wrote this story when season seven had just started. Please take that into consideration. Also, the story was based on a dream. These are the things that have happened that are different than the show :  
  
1. Lucy and Kevin broke up  
  
2. Mary was caught with drugs and quit the airline  
  
3. Matt and Sarah had a baby and have a housekeeper living with them  
  
4. Ruthie and Peter broke up and Ruthie is dating a fifteen year old named Bryan  
  
5. Simon is still living at home, but is in college as a Freshman. He has never met Cecilia.  
  
6. There is no Roxanne and Chandler in this story. It's as if they'd never met the Camden's.  
  
7. Robbie is still at the Camden's.  
  
Chapter One ::   
  
::December 2004::  
  
Lucy stared out the window. It was raining as far as her eye could see. One tear fell from her eye. It was going to be a different Christmas. A Christmas without Matt or Mary, a Christmas without Ruthie. Ruthie was going away to visit the Colonel since they found out that he had a brain tumor. Lucy now lived in a shack of an apartment in Glen Oak. She walked out the door and got into her new car and drove out of the parking lot. It was funny how only a year ago she had been engaged. Now she was driving to her parents house to tell Ruthie goodbye. She arrived at the Camden home to find all of them crying.  
  
"What's going on?" Lucy asked.  
  
"The Colonel just died," Ruthie replied, bravely.  
  
"What? He was just diagnosed two weeks ago," Lucy stated.  
  
"I know, Lucy, but he'd had the tumor for more than two weeks. His brain collapsed, Lucy," Eric replied.  
  
"No. That's not possible. Can our lives get any more screwed up?" Lucy asked, sitting down.  
  
"Probably not," Simon replied.  
  
"I just can't believe it. One moment I was packing and the next moment, he was gone," Ruthie said, in shock. She wasn't crying, nor sad, or so it seemed. She seemed emotionless. In shock. She was young when their Grandma had died, too young to understand what death actually meant. Now she was fourteen, and had mixed feelings on how to feel.   
  
Simon wasn't taking it hard at all. He seemed normal. Lucy, though, was not that way. She burst into tears just as Mary walked through the door.  
  
"Hi guys, what's going on?" Mary asked without much enthusiasm. Annie came up to hug her daughter.  
  
"Mary? Why are you here?" Lucy asked, gathering herself together.  
  
"I was lonely," Mary replied. She didn't seem too happy to see them, but she smiled anyway. Lucy stared at her sister. Why was she here? Why did she have to ruin everything? Lucy was angry. She didn't understand it. Why does Mary come back and wreck everything?  
  
"Mary, why are you here?" Lucy asked, when they were alone in the room.  
  
"I just am," Mary replied.  
  
"I want an answer," Lucy demanded. Mary walked out. Days passed by and nothing seemed to happen. Days later, Mary was getting out of her car and Lucy came up to her.  
  
"What?" Lucy asked.  
  
"Huh?" Mary asked puzzled.  
  
"What do you want?" Lucy asked. Mary only went into the house. Lucy crossed her arms. Little did she know of what was going on inside. She went inside and everyone was awaiting to hear Mary speak.  
  
"I need to tell all of you why I came back," Mary said.  
  
"Great," Lucy whispered.  
  
"Guys, I have cancer," Mary replied.   
  
"What?" Lucy asked in shock. The words cut like a knife.  
  
"Bone cancer," Mary replied. As the tears of fear and regret came to Lucy's eyes, she thought, "Why was I so rude? Why couldn't I be considerate. Now, it's too late!"   
  
"Bone cancer?" Eric asked, fighting the tears. Annie didn't holdback her tears, for there was none to hold back. She didn't have the tears. She was too shocked to cry, or move. Ruthie and Simon cried. Robbie just sat in shock that his former girlfriend had bone cancer.  
  
"When did you find out?" Ruthie asked.  
  
"About three months ago," Mary replied.  
  
"How bad is it?" Lucy asked, lowering herself into the seat beside Simon.  
  
"They have to try chemotherapy, but there's not much of a chance that I will live to be twenty-eight," Mary replied.  
  
"But you're so healthy. You're my sister, the basketball star," Lucy said.   
  
"No Luce, I used to be Mary the basketball star. Now I'm Mary. Mary with nothing but bone cancer. Not even a supportive adult sister," Mary replied, walking out. Lucy wanted to follow her, but her legs didn't seem to move. Her brain told her to leave, but what could she say?   
  
Lucy stayed in support. She stayed in Ruthie's room all day and cried herself to sleep even when she did go home. Life seemed normal, even with Mary. The weeks seemed to get better and better. She didn't act sick, although she was on chemo. She'd had two treatments when she began to fall apart. Mary fell into a deep depression after ruining Christmas and Simon's birthday with her sickness, and this depression wasn't good for her sickness either.   
  
One night, Ruthie heard a noise from Mary's room. She walked in and saw Mary crying on the floor. Terrified, she walked in to see if she was ok.  
  
"Are you ok Mary?" Ruthie asked, eyes wide as could be.  
  
"I'm fine, Ruthie. I'm just sad because I've been ruining everybody's lives. I feel as though I can't do anything without ruining everything for everyone else," Mary replied. Ruthie kneeled beside her.  
  
"No Mary, it's not your fault you got sick. It's no one's fault," Ruthie reassured her.  
  
"No Ruthie, it's God's fault! It's His fault! All His fault!" Mary protested, jumping up and leaving the room. Ruthie stood, but even with cancer, Mary was fast. Mary was out of the room and going downstairs.  
  
"I know God loves us, but why did He have to do this?" Ruthie asked herself, quietly as the past few minutes unfolded to her. She loved God, but how could He do this to her family, and why did Mary have to bring them the news on Christmas? Ruthie recalled that Christmas and recalled the sadness in the house. There was no Christmas music or joyous laughter at the great dinner. This had to happen for a reason, but what was it?  
  
  
  
Weeks passed and Mary's condition worsened. It came the dreaded day that she had to get her hair cut off. Some had fallen out and it was beginning to look hidious. They gave her a cut that was shorter than she had ever had her hair cut before.   
  
This made Mary hang her head low and refuse to go out or look in the mirror. Her depression rubbed off on her family and made her even sicker. Then came the days that she couldn't get out of bed. She became weak, and her bones lost calcium and became softer. One crisp day in March, Simon came into the living room from his date with Mindy Millian. Ruthie was watching TV and chewing gum while Lucy wrote a letter. Lucy had been coming over everyday to be with her sister and the rest of the family in this time they needed her most. By this time, Mary was bald. Her heart was broken and the tears never ceased.   
  
"Hey guys," Simon said glumly as her hung up his cap.  
  
"Hi Simon," Ruthie replied, blowing a bubble.  
  
"Hey," Lucy smiled. Then they heard Annie's dreaded scream and ran upstairs. They found her crying by Mary's side.   
  
"What happened?" Lucy asked.  
  
"She's still alive, but she quit breathing! Call 911! She has a faint heart beat!" Annie commanded Lucy. Lucy ran to the nearest phone and called 911.  
  
"Hello. We need an ambulence at 527 Alta Rd. in Glen Oak," Lucy said.  
  
"I'll need your name and the person's name," The dispatcher said. Lucy took a breath.  
  
"I'm Lucy Camden and she is my sister Mary Camden," Lucy replied.  
  
"What happened?" The dispatcher asked.  
  
"She has bone cancer, even though she's only twenty-four," Lucy replied, "And my mom said she quit breathing."  
  
"Ok. We're dispatching an ambulence," The dispatcher said. Lucy took a sigh of relief.   
  
The ambulence came and it didn't take long for them to revive Mary. She started breathing again, but she didn't wake up. She had fallen into a coma and was taken to the hospital. The Camden's now stood in the waiting room.  
  
"I don't get it. Why Mary? Why did Mary have to get cancer?" Lucy asked.  
  
"I thought old people got bone cancer," Ruthie stated.  
  
"Mostly," Annie replied. Ruthie nodded.  
  
"I just don't see why she came back and told us. She's ruined my life," Simon said.  
  
"Simon!" Eric shot.  
  
"It's the truth!" Simon replied.  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters," Lucy said. Everyone's face was red with tears.   
  
Mary didn't wake up that day nor that week. Months flew by until it was June and Mary was still not awake. Then they got the call. Mary died June 6th 2005. Sadness came and never left Lucy. They went to her funeral and seeing Mary lying there, lifeless, they all lost control. Lucy fell to the ground with regret of how she had once treated Mary. Ruthie cried because of Mary's lack of faith. Simon cried because of his words that day at the hospital. Then and there Lucy laid down a promise to Mary.  
  
"I'll never again forget the strength you gave me to push farther, and I'll try to let you live inside of me if not playing back memories one by one. I'll reflect you inside me and let them know that Camden's share a special bond. I'll never again doubt the difference between can and can't. I'll never again be an outsider to the universe and I'll shine...."  
  
She lay down a single white rose on Mary's casket as they lowered her to the ground. Never did Lucy forget that promise.  
  
The End   
  
----  
  
Feedback is much appreciated. 


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